Strange Loop

September 26-28 2018

Stifel Theatre

St. Louis, MO

Generation Minecraft – kids building software

Kids spend a lot of time consuming stuff on a computer. How can adults motivate kids to create stuff on a computer?

Minecraft* is one great way. Two kids, 14 and 11, will demonstrate on stage some red stone mojo and show how they build their own playdates.

First though, the adults need to talk about the general issue of kids creating on computers. We will spend some time discussing the options and I will share the approach which has worked for our family.

happy customers of Mojang, no other association

Seth Schroeder

Near Infinity

Computers fascinate me. As a kid, I felt extra cool when my D&D character generator was "improved" to consistently give me above average stats. As a teen, I used my HP48g calculator to plot the Mandlebrot set and play music (Metallica)… to the detriment of my grades. As a young adult, I cut my teeth on the little white C book from Kerninghan & Ritchie.
Now that I'm a geezer I worry more about people. Adults I exhort to use Clojure or another instance of Lisp. Kids I fear lack balance between consuming and creating stuff on a computer. Helping them discover their passions on a computer is something I hope to do more of.